Column: How will the Mideast bloodshed end? Not with a bullet

This week, after Israeli forces killed longtime Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, President Biden said this was an opportunity for peace. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu characterized Sinwar’s death as a settled score, while adding, “The task before us is not yet complete.”

Opinion Columnist

LZ Granderson

LZ Granderson writes about culture, politics, sports and navigating life in America.

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Without question, Sinwar, the mastermind behind Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, had blood on his hands. In war, there are no clean hands. This is true of America as well. Because we have provided Israel with much of the weaponry it has used in Gaza, we cannot sidestep accountability when weapons are used indiscriminately.

How does one define “indiscriminately”? Here’s a simple test: Are the bombs hitting children?

A UNICEF spokesperson estimates 40 children a day have been killed in Gaza for more than a year now, and the U.N. said more than 400,000 children in Lebanon have been displaced in less than a month.

While the death of Sinwar is welcome, talk of settled scores and peace are as tone deaf as hanging a “Mission Accomplished” banner after six weeks of fighting in Iraq, back in 2003. As we now know, that war had just begun; it would last nearly a decade, claiming more than 3,000 American lives and costing billions. It’s a familiar pattern. The U.S. was already entrenched in Afghanistan in 2003 and would continue its military presence until 2021. A settled score more often marks an escalation than a resolution.

History is filled with world leaders who promise war can bring about peace. However, mankind’s tally shows war mostly begets war. Sometimes treaties are signed and guns go quiet for a while, but too often the conflict doesn’t really end. The fighting just evolves.

The Cold War ended in 1989. Do you feel at peace with Russia?

Conflicts with nonstate actors can be even more difficult to put to rest. They don’t hesitate to use civilians.

One of the tactics the terrorist organization Islamic State, or ISIS, used for recruiting in Iraq was controlling access to water in the region. In fact, some of the most intense battles against ISIS were over control of Iraq’s largest dams.

Who is ensuring that civilians have access to safe drinking water in southern Lebanon right now? Or in Gaza?

Think about how vulnerable those hundreds of thousands of displaced children are in Lebanon, one of the most arid countries in the world. Meanwhile, the infrastructure of Gaza has been turned into rubble, tens of thousands of innocents have been killed, more than a million displaced. And Jared Kushner, a former White House advisor and son-in-law to Donald Trump, said, “It’s a little bit of an unfortunate situation there.”

“Gaza’s waterfront property, it could be very valuable, if people would focus on building up livelihoods,” he added.

Whose livelihoods? It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the livelihood of Palestinians is a priority for Netanyahu or Trump, who reportedly is exploring real estate opportunities in the region. For nearly 20 years, Gaza has been an open-air prison, according to the U.N.

A blockade designed to cripple Hamas has also brought this reality: For nearly 20 years young men growing up had few options for getting an education, making money or taking care of a family. What exactly are they supposed to do? Hamas partially filled that void in Gaza, as Hezbollah has in Lebanon and as ISIS did in Iraq. They provided a purpose — albeit misguided — and the death of one leader doesn’t erase decades of trauma, radicalization and recruitment.

Americans should recognize that poverty and hopelessness can create a pipeline of recruits for crime, in the Middle East just as in the United States and everywhere else. Children in Gaza and Lebanon did nothing to deserve the conditions they are facing now; protecting them should be an international priority. Otherwise, the U.S. and Israel are simply creating more soldiers for a future conflict.

After Sinwar’s death, one top Hamas official said the leader’s fate “is not a deterrent but a source of inspiration for resistance fighters,” adding: “Martyrs live forever, and the cause for liberation of Palestine from occupation is more alive than ever.”

We keep dropping bombs thinking we can destroy an idea, when oftentimes the fallout has the opposite effect.

Biden is right that there is a new opportunity now to end this awful war. And it begins with the letter Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III sent their Israeli counterparts earlier this week stating that more humanitarian aid must be allowed into Gaza or weapons will be withheld.

The amount of aid going to the displaced and wounded has dropped to less than 50% of the level that was flowing in April.

It is unacceptable for the U.S. to sit back and watch as children in the region starve and pregnant women struggle to find prenatal care because of our weapons. Yes, Israel has a right to exist. And that is also true of the Palestinians. Netanyahu doesn’t need to agree, but he does need to respect the parameters for continued American support.

@LZGranderson